Is Victor Wembanyama playing tonight? Latest on Spurs 7-foot-4 star's DVT recovery (Feb. 23)
Victor Wembanyama will be unlikely to play for the San Antonio Spurs as they face the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Wembanyama, who was named an All-Star for the first time in his career this season, is out for the game due to deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder and a blood clot.
Wembanyama’s blood clot was found a few days after playing at the NBA All-Star Weekend. He was deemed out for the rest of the regular season due to the issue.
NBA insider Shams Charania, who broke the news via ESPN, provided an update on Wembanyama’s recovery on Saturday, saying that the 7-foot-4 center has been doing well emotionally and remains in high spirits despite an abrupt end to his sophomore season.
“From what I'm told, he [Wembanyama] is emotionally doing well,” Charania said on the 'NBA Countdown' show. "He and the Spurs right now are working through treatment options on how to move forward here, with the blood clot in his right shoulder.
“And the best news out of what has been a setback of a week for the Spurs is that they don't expect any long-term issues here. They believe that the clot in his right shoulder is isolated, and they believe he will play next season.”
After winning last year’s Rookie of the Year award, Wemby had an impressive second year with the Spurs, averaging 24.3 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists per contest in 46 games.
He was also leading the Defensive Player of the Year race with 3.8 blocks and 1.1 steals per game but has since been ruled out for the award as he would not meet the minimum games requirement due to the injury.
Athletic doctor suggests that “uncomfortable questions should be asked” after Victor Wembanyama’s blood clot
Sports doctor Jesse Morse provided his opinion on Victor Wembanyama's recent blood clot diagnosis. On Thursday, the doctor posted about the possible reasons why Wemby sustained the injury and that people should be more curious about how the wunderkind picked up the injury.
"We may never publicly find out why the San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama suffered a blood clot, but that doesn’t change the fact that these uncomfortable questions need to be asked," Morse wrote on X.
Morse also mentioned other NBA players who were diagnosed with blood clots, such as former NBA All-Star Brandon Ingram and Chris Bosh, whose career was cut short due to a clot in his leg.
If his recovery goes as expected, Victor Wembanyama will be back in the 2025-26 NBA season to rekindle the partnership he had started at the Spurs with new teammate De’Aaron Fox, whom the team traded for before the deadline to pair up with Wemby.